It was late January and I had been mulling over what the theme of my next fabric line would be for what seemed like days. When it’s freezing out (I live in the frigid Midwest), I usually design bright, warm, happy fabrics, so I knew I wanted to do that again, but hadn’t quite settled on any concrete ideas yet.
The night of January 28th, I had a bout of insomnia, as usually happens when I have a deadline looming. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamt about grasshoppers. It was such a vivid dream! And confusing as well, because I probably hand’t seen a grasshopper in months, or at least since my last trip to Florida, which had been a while ago.
When I woke up, I looked up the significance of grasshoppers in dreams. Wikipedia said: When grasshoppers appear in dreams, these have been interpreted as symbols of “Freedom, independence, spiritual enlightenment, inability to settle down or commit to decision”.
That last bit resonated with me and made me chuckle, given my current state of mind. So, I said to myself, “That’s it, I’m drawing a grasshopper today!” And that’s how this little dude came about.
Believe it or not, this little dude sat on my computer screen for a few more days all by his lonesome because I didn’t know how he would fit into a fabric line. Eventually, I created a funky damask and sort of camouflaged him in it.
I loved it, but still didn’t know if Riley Blake would, So, I started drawing some flowers and other complimentary prints to show Riley Blake, still not knowing if my friend, the grasshopper, had a place in the line. By then, my creative juices were flowing beautifully. I was drawing, picking color palettes, and drawing some more. When I finally showed Riley Blake my concept for the line, I did not include my Mad Hopper. I’m not sure why. Maybe I was afraid they would find him odd or scary and kill the whole thing. This was my initial pitch, which Riley Blake accepted immediately.
When I finally had the whole line drawn out, my Mad Hopper found his place and I submitted him along with the rest of the prints, still thinking in the back of my mind that there was a possibility he would not make it. But he did!!
I named the line “Primavera”, which means “Spring” in Spanish, as a nod to my Latin heritage, my desire for warmer temperatures, and my friend, the Mad Hopper.
I hope you love it as much as I do!